The company behind XSGD – one of the largest non-USD stablecoins pegged to the Singapore-dollar – StraitsX, announced the launch of a stablecoin denominated by the Indonesian Rupiah dubbed XIDR.
Indonesia is one of the fast-growing crypto hotspots in the Asia region. A media outlet, Jakarta Post, reported that there are more cryptocurrency investors in the country than stock investors because the majority of the major equities on the stock board are owned by the state and only have state returns.
The co-founder of StraitsX, Aymeric Salley, said in a statement that the company aims to use XIDR to reach out to create financial inclusion for the unbanked population of Indonesia. This is one of their missions to enable, accelerate and democratize access to digital assets for businesses and individuals in the Asian region and beyond.
In his earlier interview with Blockworks, Salley said he is very sure that the rest of the stablecoins will be denominated in currencies outside the US Dollar. His perspective is based on the growth in the crypto market and the locals’ preference for stablecoin denominated in their currency.
The demand for this in the market came from that the local traders in the country called “Rendang Premium,” which is named after a local soup. The premium is always added to every crypto transaction when converting US Dollar to Rupiah because of the relative lack of liquidity of the currency.
StraitsX’s XIDR won’t be the first stablecoin denominated in Indonesian Rupiah. The Binance exchange has also launched its Binance IDR in the country which is used on Rupiah Token and Tokocrypto exchange backed by Binance.
The country also has several projects using blockchain technology supported by Indonesian banks. These projects had developed more efficient platforms for fund remittance for its migrant population, especially the workers. In May, PT Bank Negara of Indonesia partnered with J.P Morgan to utilize its Confirm tool hosted on the Liink network powered by blockchain technology. The partnership is aimed at expediting wire transfers from Taiwan to Indonesia, where the country has over 250,000 migrant workers.
Crypto Dubbed Haram by the Religious Council of Indonesia
While Indonesia is growing to be one of the crypto hotspots in the Asian region, the religious council of the country has seemed to pose an obstacle to the growth.
Indonesia’s National Ulema Council has tagged the speculative nature of cryptocurrency ‘Haram’ – a term meaning forbidden for Muslims.
Speaking with the ABC TV of Australia, Ahmad Fahrur Rozi, the spokesperson of the east branch of one of the biggest Islamic organizations in Indonesia – Nahdlatul Ulama, said trading cryptocurrencies has an element of gambling and fraudulent activities which is illicit for all Muslims.
